There seems to be no end to the confrontation between the YSRCP government in Andhra Pradesh led by CM Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and state election commissioner (SEC) Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar.
On Wednesday, Nimmagadda filed yet another petition in the state high court again alleging that the Jagan Mohan Reddy government was not cooperating with him in the conduct of the elections to local bodies.
He named principal secretary (finance) and principal secretary (panchayat raj) as respondents in the petition.
In his petition, he alleged that the government was not giving any funds to the state election commission and stalled release of funds for the conduct of local body elections.
“There is absolutely no cooperation from the government in the conduct of elections,” he said.
Stating that stoppage of funds to the SEC was against the law under Article 243 (k) of the Constitution, Nimmagadda requested that the court give directions to the state government to release the funds to the commission immediately.
In March this year, Nimmagadda incurred the wrath of the Jagan government for abruptly postponing the local body elections citing Coronavirus pandemic as the reason, without even consulting the state government officials.
The government removed him through an ordinance seeking reduce his tenure and replacing him with a retired judge of Tamil Nadu high court. However, Nimmagadda fought a long legal battle and won the case.
Now, Nimmagadda wants to conduct the elections when the pandemic reached its peak, but the government expressed its reluctance citing the same reason.
It is evident that the Jagan government is not interested in completing the process for local body elections under the regime of Nimmagadda.
In an an affidavit in the state high court to that effect last month, the counsel for the government said since the Coronavirus pandemic had gained alarming proportions across the country, it might not be the right time to conduct the elections now.
The high court, however, told the government that the decision to conduct or not to conduct the elections would be decided by the state election commission.
“You should write to the SEC on your inability to make arrangements for the local body elections,” the bench observed.
